my D100 is well past needing to be upgraded. my main beef with it has always been the noise and now it appears that my images are soft, even in RAW and shooting with my 20mm f2.8 lens. also, the camera is starting to get dead pixels and it has always gotten "tired" during studio shooting. the focus slows down, the buffer slows down as well as my patience. :sad:

money is always an issue, however i need to do something. i've been a nikon user for many years now, so if i go with canon, i would need to purchase canon mounts. i'm a professional working with what i have, the lenses i do have are only 3. i know, sounds crazy. but like i said i work with what i have go to my site: http://www.deirdreryan.com to see what i mean

Since you already have an investment in Nikon lenses I don't see a compelling reason to leave the system. The D200 is a great camera, but you mentioned one of your dislikes about the D100 was the noise. Noise is still relatively a problem in the d200. The D80 has better noise performance. Is there a reason you excluded that camera?

I'm also going to assume you meant Canon 400D (there is no 40d yet).

But, before jumping ship to Canon, I think its rational to explore if a Nikon camera can fit your needs first (since all cameras being considered are good). So, what do you think about the d80? Is there a feature the D200 offers that you feel you need over the D200? If not, the D80 should give you better noise performance.

Overall if i have to pick a camera with ur back ground it would be D200. U have the nikon lens, and the camera is selling for 1200. for 1200 the D200 is lots of camera. It has so many functions like built in intrevelometer, multiple exposure mergin(cant compare to PS HDR but still) and lots more.

Do i regret choosing 5D over D200. No. But when my interests are changing towards birds, i do feel that i shud have chosen to collect Nikon lens for D2x(love the 2X crop idea hehe)

Just check with ur pictures onhow many shots u take over ISO800. If its relatively low, i would say D200 is the best camera.

and ur vote is between D100 and 30D where i would pick 30D ...hehe. And one think i liked about Nikon cameras is the colors. They tend to me well saturated. And has a good RED base to it